The Revelation of Light and Dark (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 1)

My chin jerks inward. “Really?”

“Really,” he replies. “You have incredible physical abilities in your mere human form. With training and Semper Terra magic, you could be a great warrior. You could save lives.”

The possibility is completely overwhelming. I consider everything that would mean. Leaving my life here, putting myself in mortal danger… killing other creatures. And yet, there’s a part of me that’s interested just a little bit. I never considered what it would be like to be a hero, but I don’t think the feeling would suck.

Before I can even open my mouth to ask Titus to tell me more, the door to the fire escape opens, and Carrick comes striding through. I scramble to my feet, moving away from the wall toward him. Titus pushes up lazily, the knife now nowhere to be seen.

Without even needing to ask him, I know he has somehow stashed it somewhere magically. Maybe even just causing it to be invisible.

So very fascinating and I want to talk to Titus more about this.

But Carrick is here and despite the fantastical tales of Semper Terra, there’s just no denying that when Carrick is around, his presence commands all of my attention.

A fact which I don’t necessarily like at all.

“You ready?” he asks as he moves past me toward the wall we’d been sitting against.

“Ready for what?” I retort. “And where have you been?”

“Walking the area,” he replies. He presses his legs against the brick wall, which comes up to mid-thigh, and he looks down below. “Seeing what type of fae and daemon were around so we could test the strength of your senses.”

I don’t need to join him at the edge to know Carrick picked a good location. The building we’re on sits at the corner of a popular intersection. On the west side are buildings, but on the east—bifurcated with a through street—is a large city park complete with trees, fountains, benches, and bike paths. At this time of early evening, the streets are busy with pedestrians leaving work or heading to happy hour. The park is full of people taking advantage of a dry day as the sun starts to hang low in the sky over the Olympic Mountains toward the west. From this vantage point, I could easily see a couple of hundred people if I were to look over the way Carrick is.

And yet… I stay right where I’m at.

“Come over here,” Carrick commands, waving an impatient hand. “I want you to try out your senses only. See if you can open up and feel any of your vibes from up here.”

I fully understand what he wants me to do, and I even appreciate the ingenuity of it, but I’m frozen in place.

“Finley,” he growls in exasperation. “I don’t have all night.”

“Um… I can’t,” I finally say, my heart starting to beat a little faster.

“Why not?” he grits out.

“I’m afraid of heights.”

Carrick’s eyes flare, his mouth opening slightly. His eyes cut to Titus, who shrugs, then return to me. “You’re afraid of heights?”

“Yup.”

“But you were just sitting here at the edge, up against the wall,” he points out with a thoroughly confused expression.

“Yes,” I agree. “With my back against the wall, firmly held in place from falling, and not looking down over the edge, where I might get dizzy, pass out, and actually topple off the edge.”

“Would you feel better if I got a rope, looped it around your waist, and then tied it on to something else?” he asks sarcastically.

“Could you?” I ask hopefully.

Carrick curses under his breath, but Titus gives a jovial laugh, taking hold of my upper arm, his big hands completely engulfing my bicep with room to spare. “Come on, girl. You’ve got this. I’ll hold tight to you the entire time. I promise you won’t fall.”

I swear if I didn’t think it highly inappropriate in a million different ways, I’d jump on Titus right now and give him a big smack on the lips. As it stands, I give him a grateful smile because I know, indeed, if Titus says he won’t let me fall, then he won’t.

It doesn’t mean my fear will be gone. I’m sure my stomach is still going to flip, my head is going to get dizzy, and I might even puke, but I’d like to test my skills to see how long-range they are. It’s important information to have.

Carrick watches with hooded eyes as Titus walks me to the wall. He escorts me right to Carrick, who is on my left. Titus is on my right, but with a foot to go until my legs would tap against the wall, I stop dead in my tracks. Titus doesn’t try to force me, merely waiting until I decide to move forward.

Over the wall and in the distance, I can see the Sound and Bainbridge Island, which isn’t so bad from this vantage point. My heart starts pounding as I think about what it would be like to look down over the edge to the street.